Something Borrowed
by Wander101
Summary: Post-game. Maria wakes up alone in the dark, thinking about the future and absolutely not thinking about the past. Fayt/Maria.


Something borrowed

Chapter 1 of 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean or any of the characters involved. I make no money from writing this story.

A/N: Maria deserves a little love. If only for her borderline obsession of Fayt. Flaws are what make characters interesting. This is set some time after her paired ending with Fayt. I hope there aren't too many mistakes. I don't like to post pieces below 2000 words but it felt like I would have to shoehorn in more content.

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><p>She tossed and turned on the king sized bed, something tugging at her consciousness. Sleep beckoned her, the promise of a 5 more minutes hard to resist. Slowly she surfaced, casting off the last vestiges of her dream. The now familiar landscape of her bedroom came into view, large, dark, and minimalistic. They bought the apartment, secretly, a year ago. New home, new identities, new lives. The rain, just starting as she went to bed, was coming down hard. She likes the rain, likes listening to it. She closes her eyes and lets the sound wash over her.<p>

Fayt.

A soft sigh. The clock reads 3 am. It's Saturday. He should be home. The young blue haired woman sits up, the blanket held to her chest. He would have contacted her if he'd been held up. She finds her robe on the hook near the bathroom door, wraps it around her naked body and pads into the hallway. She passes by the guest room that doubles as an office, heading straight for the living room.

As late as it is, there's enough light to see. Their corner apartment, top floor and close to downtown, has floor to ceiling windows along an entire wall of the living room. They're beautiful and she can see the starlight all the way from their bedroom door. The apartment makes her the envy of all her friends. That and her handsome boyfriend. She finds said boyfriend in the living room, sleeping on the adjustable sofa.

His bag is next to the door, his coat lying on the floor by the sofa. That's a bad sign. Fayt isn't a neat freak but he doesn't like clutter and he's almost OCD about his gear. She thinks it might be a coping mechanism, something he picked up during their adventure.

It's not the first time Cliff's reached out to them, claiming they need to be kept in the loop. She knows what Cliff really wants, how much easier his life would be if only one of them would step forward. She has no stomach for it, for that life. The obsession that fueled her years at the helm of Quark is gone (or sleeping in front of her in just his boxers.) But Cliff is nothing if not persistent, so Fayt has taken the burden onto himself, trying to insulate her from the whole ordeal.

It's not the first time Cliff's dragged him out into the stars to speak face to face. And it's not the first time he's come back to find her asleep. So rather than wake her, he'd slept out here. She opens the linen closet. When the sofa converts it naturally forms a headrest but for all their technology it can't generate a blanket. She digs around in the dim light until she finds one of her favorites. It's thin, feels like satin against her skin, and it's warm. She's the only one who ever gets cold. She lets her robe fall where she stands, drapes the blanket over her shoulders.

The bed shifts underneath them and his eyes are opening. And she feels guilty because that's what she wanted to happen. She knows he's tired. But this last trip to meet Cliff kept him away for a week. She needs to hear his voice if only just to welcome him home. He blinks up at her, gathering his senses. A tired but inviting smile spreads across his face.

Instead of welcoming him home, her first act is to tease him about getting lost on the way to their bedroom. He notes he woke up with a beautiful woman hovering over him so his strategy is doing pretty well. Wordlessly, they fall into their bedtime routine. He shifts over and she lays down alongside him, her head on his chest. One of his arms wraps around her and pulls the blanket halfway up her naked back, the other playing with her hair.

He made her promise not to cut it.

Mirage made her promise the same, when she was 14. Quark is out there, reformed and back under Cliff's command. The remnants of the Pangalatic Federation are being marshalled behind a new face, a name she hasn't bothered to learn. Fayt would know but she doesn't care to ask.

That's not their life anymore.

As tired as he is, he wants this too. He teases her if she has her cover story ready. Exams are over for the term. They're going on a ski trip with four of their friends, two girls and one other couple. She's excited and nervous. After a year she hasn't quite settled into their new lives. She's never been skiing before or even on a trip with friends. Fayt had to explain to her, privately, that it would send the wrong message to get their own cabin. They're college students after all. But he looked at the floor plan and made sure they had the rights to the master suite. She likes the girls on the trip, even the one that "totally digs" Fayt and thinks she doesn't know. The other boyfriend is on the basketball team. She's made it clear not to badger Fayt about joining ever again. She wishes he could, knows he misses it. It's just too risky. People keep track of the really good players. She rests her chin on his chest. It's dim but not dark, enough light to watch him. She can't quite see the green of his eyes but his hair stands out, the starlight giving it an ethereal quality. Does hers look the same?

They were made for each other.

She never says it aloud, never admitted it to anyone. No one else could understand. She'd felt it the moment she learned of his existence. Before that she'd been alone, a failed specimen slated for disposal. Then she'd learned the truth, the reason behind her foster mother's betrayal. There's no denying it, in her mind or in her soul, not after everything they've done. Her power brought their physical forms into 4D space. His powers brought the physical laws of their universe through so they could use their powers. Neither could have functioned without the other.

They were made for each other.

A flash of lightning and his green eyes are luminous. She presses her lips against his. Sensing her urgency, he's quick to respond. She can't forgive the scientists for what they did her, to them: altering their bodies, forging them into weapons, and forcing them into hiding. But for all their crimes, they gave her this.

One of his hands cups her jaw, the other resting on her hip, as he deepens the kiss.

Next term he's starting an internship. She's cutback on her course load so they can spend their mornings together. Her friends joke she'll never graduate. At his suggestion she started off a year behind him, having never experienced college life before. This will put her further behind. But an extra year isn't a problem. They don't need money. Not with Quark's reserves or the money they've "inherited" from Dr. Leingod's now defunct research group.

She's lying on top of him and his body is already responding. It's been a week. The hand on her hip slowly works its way up her side, inch by painstaking inch. He's teasing her. Damn him. Until, finally, he's there and she moans into his mouth.

It's been a whole week.

There's a reason he keeps using the battle simulators. Her old uniform is buried in their bedroom closet. There's a laser weapon in their nightstand, next to her gun.

Someday the universe will find them again.

Her heart is racing. The desire, the need, plain on her face as she pushes herself up, the blanket pooling around her legs. His hands find her waist, guiding her. There's a grunt and a moan and they're joined. She doesn't think anything else, anyone else, could feel like this. It's more than pleasure, more than just lust. It's...it's everything. They've never talked about children. They know what a child,_ their_ child, would mean.

They stopped using protection weeks ago.

The storm is raging outside. The rain is pounding against the windows. But her eyes are closed. The flash of lightning is nothing to her. The clap of thunder buried under her own ragged breathing.

There's a storm out there too, among the stars. A power vacuum that has yet to be filled. Quark, the Federation, and new untested powers, all vying for control.

But that's light years away.

There's an alien moan in her ears, his name, her lips. Her head rolls back and she's shaking, his hands the only thing keeping her upright. Soon he follows her over the edge. She leans forward supporting herself on shaky arms. Again, he guides her, and they settle back into their usual sleeping position. He's playing with her hair again. She loves it, loves that he loves it. She closes her eyes, hears his heartbeat slowing down to match hers. Dawn isn't far off. She doesn't need a clock to know they've spent hours talking…and not talking. They're supposed to meet their friends for lunch and then it's off to the cabin.

She refuses to think about the past anymore, about the time, money, or lives, spent to bring them to this moment. This, here and now, is all that matters. What's done is done and can't be changed. The world outside their windows isn't real.

Gently, he tilts her face upwards, stealing a kiss.

They fought for the universe once, for their right to live. They can fight for this life too, at least for a little longer.

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><p>AN: Did this make sense? It's a different "voice" than I'm used to writing. But that's an option you have when it comes to one-shots. Did it sound like Maria? Trying to be heartfelt and maybe just a little unhinged.


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